Off the mat: USF women knock off Syracuse

Facing the prospect of an 0-4 start in Big East play, USF's women's basketball team pulled off its biggest win of the season Saturday, beating a 15-1 Syracuse team 73-64 in the Sun Dome.

Janae Stokes led four Bulls scoring in double figures with 20 points, hitting four of USF's 10 3-pointers, and the Bulls got another double-double from Jessica Lawson, who had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

USF improves to 10-7 and 1-3 in Big East play -- despite Syracuse's record and a No. 25 ranking in the coaches' poll, the Bulls actually came in rated higher at CollegeRPI.com, with USF at No. 91, two spots ahead of Syracuse. USF had been 0-6 against teams in the current RPI top 120.

Here's the boxscore from ESPN.com. The Bulls stay home for another key home game against Pittsburgh, whose RPI is 101 but is 0-3 to start conference play.

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South Florida Bulls fans, you've come to the right place: the USF Sports Bulletin blog. Tampa Bay Times sportswriter Joey Knight, who covers USF, will post news and thoughts on the Bulletin, and we invite your participation in the comments area. Follow the Times' coverage of USF athletics on Twitter.